CHICAGO: An engineer by profession but an all rounder acclaimed as Community Sevak and erudite Jain scholar, Niranjan C Shah breathed his last in his adopted Chicagoland last week leaving behind him an array of saddened family members, relatives, friends and members of Indian community at large
Niranjan Shah, 74, came to this country in early sixties as a student and stayed put here working hard professionally as well as seeking to realize his dream of helping those in need.
His master contribution was to see that the first ever Jain temple in Chicagoland gets built besides hosted many scholars, visitors and devotees from India, because of his big heart, hospitality, warmth and generosity. He was a true follower of Jainism and had a huge library of Jain literature at his residence.
He spent a lifetime to establish the organization of JAINA or Federation of Jain Associations in North America, where he served as General Secretary and Vice President.
Schaumburg was his town in Illinois and he died there on December 28, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Falguni Shah-Gosalia, son Nimit Desai, and siblings. A huge capacity crowd joined in the cremation ceremony at Russo’s Hillside Chapels in Hillside, on Friday, December 30.Besides family members, several people from his friend circle including Ravindra Kobavala, Vijay Meghani, Gourav Shah, paid homage to the departed soul.
Like a true visionary, pioneer and trailblazer, he was also described as a devoted person of Attma-siddhi Shashtra. To devote more time and energy towards this cause, he retired at the age of 44 from his engineering profession. He also believed in sharing his wisdom and passion of Jainism through various interfaith communities’ participation. Everyone at the gathering was full of praise and admiration for Niranjanbhai. The Jain society at large expressed its sense of loss after his demise.
Suresh Bodiwala
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